


Baby, you’re much prettier when you smile

by galaxhyun



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, I'll Add Tags As I Go On, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Underage Drinking, but just a bit not really i'm sorry, is any tag i use totally real? who knows, my 4 cuties are fuckboys and i cannot even with myself, they aren't real fuckboys tho, this is literally the ptg high school au no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-10-30 13:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10878081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxhyun/pseuds/galaxhyun
Summary: Some say high school's years are the best years of your life, some say they're the worst.Some say you learned a lot of things, some say is useless.Some experience a lot of new things, some just don't.Ten boys living high school their own way is what this story is about, but it grows just like they do, it gets as complicated and as easy as their lifes do, it'll  probably teach you things like teachers do, it'll probably make your head messy like test do and you'll have a complete opinion on it just when you finish it, isn't that how high school works?





	1. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO!  
> Okay, I'm back with another story!  
> For those who don't know me, I just wanna say that my english is a messy as my life so I apologize in advance.  
> This story idea came to me with a picture Hwi uploaded a while a go when they were on LA. My best friend helped me with the headcannon and here it is, but I'll like to say a few things first:
> 
> ▸ this is based on the high school life i lived, so, it's base on the high school's on my county, if you have any doubts about who my school system works, don't hesitate to ask me, okay?
> 
> ▸ related to the point above, i went to two privates schools, because publics schools aren't that good on my country, just for you to know.
> 
> ▸ i'll be using dollars because they're the most commun currency, but i'll be using my country's prices, so if something seems way too expensive, well, that's my country everyone.
> 
> ▸ here, the legal drinking age is 18 and you can get your driving license at 16.
> 
> ▸ i didn't set this on any particular country, so it's a bit of a mess.
> 
> OKAY, i think that's it, enojoy it :)

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just am.”

“But may—”

“No.”

Jinho bit of his lunch, sending Yuto a mischievous stare. It was a cold May Thursday and the school’s cafeteria was completely full. The air smelled like sweat, food and deodorant; disgusting. The 5 boys had taken a sit on one of the tables farther from the main door and the buffet. Jinho, sat next to Shinwon, was trying to devour a sandwich while writing a music sheet at the same time and Yuto had taken a sit in front of them, in between Hyunggu and Wooseok. These were their usual sitting positions lately, given the fact Shinwon didn’t seem to want to be anywhere near the youngers of their group.

“Why do you have to be so mean?” Wooseok asked, fighting with the fork to pick up his spaghetti.

“I’m not mean, Seokkie, I’m just realistic. Yuto has failed every single biology test this year so what makes this one different?”

Hyunggu giggled a bit. He was the only one who had finished eating. “You’re being harmful so please stop attacking stupid Yuto. Anyway, shouldn’t you be like extremely happy?”

“Yeah, isn’t the Chinese dude arriving tomorrow?”

“His name is Yan An, Shinwon, and no, he’s arriving today at 5.”

“That’s so cool,” Hyunggu smiled. It’d been a while since the last time a kid moved to their school and they were all really excited. Jinho had met Yanan during middle school when he lived in China, so they’ll get to hang out with him lots. “How is him?”

“Out of you league,” was Jinho’s only response, making almost the entire table laugh.

“I bet he’ll end up with Hwitaek, he’s the first one everybody wants.”

“You’re wrong there, Seokkie. Hongseok is the first one everybody wants,” Shinwon was teasing and Jinho knew it, but kicked him from under the table anyway.

“Well, I think Jong is the first one everybody wants,” the voice came from behind, making them turned around. Hongseok was smiling in their direction, joined by Hwitaek and Hyojong. The three newcomers took a sit on the table, which was “their” table too.

“Thanks Seoky but you’re wrong, everyone wants you first. Be careful Jinho, this better doesn’t end up in you losing your lifelong friend,” Hyojong added, resting his elbow on his knee and his head on his palm.

Jinho simply rolled his eyes while smirking and kept eating his lunch. The whole canteen was staring at them, but the 9 boys were already used to it. At first it had been strange for all of them when Hongseok and his friends started to sit on their table. Hyunggu had almost felt off his chair and Yuto had dropped his mouth open during the entire meal. After 4 years, they have gotten used to it. They were, almost, close. On the other hand, the rest school still found odd how their top 4 had choose a few no ones to be friends with, not even starting on Hongseok and Jinho.

“I feel offended.”

“You’re always offended, Hwi,” Wooseok joked before the black haired pretended to be vexed. Hwitaek had been dying his hair like that since they all started to hang out. Before, he looked a little like Jinho, as both had chocolate brown hair.

“Where’s Changgu?”

“Dunno. Yuto, can you text him please? He can’t miss any more classes,” Hongseok said, smoothly passing his arm on top of Jinho’s shoulders.

 

 

“Done,” the black haired said while putting his phone down, not even bothering to check if Changgu had read his last message.

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know Hongseok, but he’ll be here in two.”

“Wrong,” Hyunggu pointed at the front door with his head, sipping on his drink and biting the straw.

They all turned to look at the direction the young boy had indicated. Changgu was walking to their table, hair all messy and shirt half undone; he seemed happy and tired. But, no matter what he was feeling, he **always** looked good, it was like magic. He had dyed his hair light in 4th year and that had made him, if it was possible, much more popular. Ripped jean, white shirts and leader jackets were his signature since forever, even before they were a trend. The guys usually joked, saying that something wasn’t fashionable until Changgu started to wear it.

“Hello,” he said with the biggest grin on his face and Yuto lost his ability to think for a second.

“Were you making out with our music teacher again?” Hwitaek sounded unimpressed but playful.

The other boy winked, taking a bite of Wooseok’s pasta and staring at the Japanese boy for the first time.

“Thanks for interrupting my good morning hours, Yuto- **chan** ,” he emphasized the last words and moaned in pain when the other punched him on the shoulder.

“Just shut up.”

“Great idea. Anyway, what were you talking about?”

“Yan An,” the youngers said at the same time, focusing on their meals again.

“Who the hell is Yenan?”

“It’s **Yan An** ,” Jinho spoke, finally looking up from the place his sandwich used to be. “His names in Yan An and you’re banned from even breathing near him, did I make myself clear?”

“Wha—” he stopped mid-sentence, catching the oldest’s eyes. Jinho was always cold and a bit insufferable to Changgu’s taste, but he also was his best friend’s boyfriend, so he had constantly had to spend time with him. After a while he had realized that Jinho wasn’t as tough as he wanted everybody to believe and they had learned to get alone, he will even call him a friend. He had an amazing mind, concentrated mainly on music, and a soft heart, concentrated mainly on Hongseok. But, if he wanted, he could be mean and hurt people, his tongue was really sharp after all, and Changgu had seen him do what he was doing now enough times to know that the short male was been completely serious and could hurt him if he wasn’t taken seriously. “Sure, I don’t want a boyfriend anyways,” he shrugged.

Jinho didn’t say anything but seemed pleased, as he turned around and pinched his boyfriend’s cheek when he tried to steal his drink.

Changgu himself drank from Yuto’s drink, how wasn’t paying attention, still wondering why Jinho cared about this Chinese dude so much. Maybe they had a thing on the past? Wait, when did they meet? Was he cheating on Seoky? If he was, Changgu was going to kick his ass. After standing up and starting to walk to his classroom he realized that was impossible, those two were way too in love for cheating to be a thing. And then, other question started to fill the light haired’s mind. Will he ever find a person that moved his heart the way Seoky did to Jinho’s? Well, not that he really cared; he was 17 and having the best moment of his life.

Yuto slapped the back of his head, bringing him back to reality and stopping his face for hitting a wall. He smiled at the younger boy, who grinned while shaking his head and entered his class. His was the next one, already filled with teenagers who, mostly, didn’t give a crap about Ancient Greek. But he did. Everyone used to have this idea that Changgu only cared about sleeping around and shopping. Obviously, those people had gotten completely shocked when he not only scored 10s on every subject, but also participated on every class and did every single homework and assignment. If their classes had had a rack, he’ll probably be n#1 on each of them.

History was, by far, his favorite. Their teacher was a man on his forties, very cool and intelligent, that as soon as he spoke sent Changgu into the past, living on his own skin the wars, epidemics and golden times he talked about. Not all of the students had learned to appreciate him like Changgu did, but they all respected him.

“Okay, now, who can talk to me about the Furies?” Mr. Grannet was wearing some lose jeans and a light blue sweater and Changgu smiled to himself, his typical look. They had started with Greek mythology around two weeks ago, but given the fact they only had history twice a week, they hadn’t advanced much. “Yes?”

The girl that was sitting in front of him had been the one raising her hand. He had never spoken to her before but she seemed to be as interested in History as he was. Her hair was curly and in between light brown and blonde. She couldn’t be taller than 160cm and her eyes were of a beautiful green. “The Furies, their original name _Erinyes_ , were female characters in charge of vengeance; they followed around men that had committed a certain crimes.”

“Correct! I see you’ve been reading the textbook Rina,” he smiled at her and she smiled back, obviously happy with the recognition. “Do any of you know their origin?” Changgu hadn’t read the textbook, but he had read Percy Jackson when he was younger. He searched on his mind, trying to remember where the hell they came from and why they were trying to attack Percy. He raised his hand. “Yes, Changgu?”

“I don’t know the whole answer, but didn’t they have something to do with the God of the Underworld, Hades?

“Yes and no, but well thought,” he took a sit on his desk. “The Furies came from Uranus’ ichor when Kronos murdered him. There are three of them: Alecto, who represents anger; Megaera, who represents avarice and Tisiphone, who represents revenge. After Kronos’ fall, Hades is said to hire the Furies to help him enforce his authority and justice among the souls of the dead that reside on the Underground,” he stood up again. “Now, do you know why I decided to talk to you about them?” when nobody answered, he continued. “On the old Greek days, the Furies were the way they prevented crimes, telling the villagers ‘don’t do bad things or they will come after you’. Nowadays, our society and culture has changed, but we haven’t. We make bad decision and mistakes all the time, which makes us humans. But what also makes us human is the ability to recognize said errors and don’t commit them again. Since that time, we had needed something to stop us from being bad. Today, laws and prisons are what keep us from murdering or stealing, and I want to believe that our own good minds too. But, if you make minor things, like cheating on a test or on a partner, lying to our parents, treating people badly, what lay on us? Nothing more that our own awareness. I’m here to teach you all to listen to yourselves, not to **need** a thing like Furies to stop you to do the things you know you shouldn’t.”

The bell rang, leaving Changgu’s nuts and bolts on his head spinning full speed.

“Changgu, are you alright?” the teacher asked him when they both realized they were the only ones left in the classroom.

“Yes I am,” he stood up, grabbing his bag. “I was just thinking about what you said.”

“Really? Well, that means I did my job correctly.”

“You always do, Professor,” he answered, finally meeting Mr. Grannet’s eyes. “We all thing we’re young and free, that we can do whatever we want. **I** do whatever I want. But, are we hurting people on the process? Are we not thinking how our actions can affect others and ourselves just because there’s no one there to scold us?”

“Not everything we do needs a second’s opinion Changgu. We do things and sometimes we get them wrong, but that’s part of growing. What I meant with this class was for you to not do things you **know** are wrong, that’s when the bad act is bad, because it’s intentional, because you are completely aware that you shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing.”

Changgu nodded at him and left the classroom, still thinking about everything. Was he doing wrong? He didn’t think so. Should he just stop messing around? Well, he was young and he wasn’t hurting anyone, was he? He decided that Hongseok was probably the first one he should talk to. His best friend was the ‘feelings specialist’.

He bumped into someone, realizing too late he was spacing out.

“Changgu, you’re like, 1 meter taller than me! Try not to stand there like a mountain, okay?”

He laughed. “Hyunggu, I’m like 2 cm taller than you.”

“Yeah, but your chest is larger than the ocean so you seem taller.”

“That makes **no** sense.”

His face turned a little red. “If it makes sense to me, then it makes sense,” he stated as they started walking next to each other. History was Changgu’s last class of the day.

“I’ll never understand why I have an 80 minutes class after lunch and that’s it. I could just go home and eat,” he snorted.

He stopped for a second before speaking very fast. “First of all,” the younger was taking out his phone, which Changgu could listen from where he was, “school doesn’t work. I correct myself: the whole school system doesn’t work. We’re being rated as intelligent according to the amount of facts we can memorize. How is that fair? Second, most of the time, they don’t care about efficiency in our timetables. I have like 4 philosophy hours on a Monday. I can barely wake up on Mondays, how am I gonna be functional on a subject that requires my brain on its fullest? It’s just stupid. Well, I mean, it could be worse, I could have math like Yuto and Wooseok do.”

Changgu laughed at that and showed himself a bit impressed. The younger was always funny, but also quite shy. “I mean, you are right.”

“Thanks man,” he looked at his phone again, typing something. “Anyway, this is Jinho’s second threat message so I better run to the D12 before he locks me out, see you.”

Changgu waved at him and kept his previous path to the main door. Hyunggu admired his back. He was right, they were only a few centimeters apart, but Changgu just seemed… bigger. Maybe it was because the age different, but whenever they were alone, he just felt small.

The purple haired shook his head, forcing himself to walk on the other direction. It’s been four years since _they_ started hanging out with him, but he was still a bit overwhelmed by the whole situation. He didn’t spend too much time with any of them by themselves, but moments like this weren’t rare, when some of them will walk, of bump, to him and start a conversation. He knew more than anyone that ‘popularity’ was stupid and how beautiful you are shouldn’t determine how important you are. But, come on, it was high school, everyone and their grandma cared about who was who, how x looked, who z was dating, who they could get the chance to date. That’s how teenagers’ minds work most of the time; they believe everything is forever and that your high school status determinates were you’re going to end in your life. Hyunggu knew better, but he was also a teenager, he was worried about crap that was important to him at the moment, even if it shouldn’t.

“I swear to God I’m going to turn you into a clock so you stop arriving late,” Jinho said as soon as he crossed the door.

“Did you just quoted Harry Potter?” Wooseok was sitting a few sets back, making some weird movements with his neck that helped him dodge Jinho’s pen.

“Soz, I was talking to Changgu.”

“Do us all a favor and **never** say ‘soz’ again,” Jinho said with a disgusted look on his face.

“Soz,” Hyunggu practically ran to his best friend’s side and started stretching. The music club was the smallest club on the school, composed only by three members, but they didn’t talk about it, never.

The music room was just a normal room with a pentagram board that they rarely used. There was no piano, no guitar, no bass and none other stringed instruments or any instrument whatsoever. Jinho owned a keyboard and he started bringing it to school on Mondays and going back home with it on Fridays during first year and the habit had soon became tradition. He had been the club’s president since second year and Wooseok and Hyunggu couldn’t be any more pleased with that. The oldest had been into music since he learned what it was. He composed, produced, wrote, sang and played both the piano and the guitar, which has been his first instrument. At first, Hyunggu couldn’t believe that someone just two years older than him could know so much, but he quickly understood that his friend had learned all through years and years of studying and practicing. He knew that before both of them entered the school, Jinho had been the only club’s member. They never spoke about it, but Hyunggu knew not to ask, as him and Wooseok would always receive the same answers: ‘people on this school simply don’t like music’.

They started their vocal exercises together. There was no need for Jinho to guide them anymore, as after 4 years they knew them perfectly. In the begging, they were too lazy to do them, but after Jinho not letting them even talk until they’ve done them, they’ve grown used to them and its importance for one’s voice.

“So, I spent the weekend working on the song you wanted to do Seokkie, I think I got it.”

 “Really!?” they had finished with their preparation and were ready to get working.

“Yep, I learned it just on the guitar because I though it’ll sound happier that way. I can teach you while Hyunggu works on the vocals and I got a simple percussion for myself, what do you thing?”

They both nodded, exited. Every one or two weeks, one of them chose a song to work on. This week was Wooseok’s turn and he had chosen ‘It Ain’t Me’, alluding it’d fit their voices perfectly and that it was a good fun song.

The got to work pretty quickly; Jinho gave Hyunggu a piece of paper with the lyrics divided with three different color, his phone and some earphones. He had made a simple base for them to practice until the live instrumentation was ready. The purple haired took the three things and moved to the back of the classroom, leaving his friends on the front. He plugged the earphones and pressed play, letting himself get absorbed by the music. He knew the song perfectly, not just because the radio wouldn’t stop playing it, but because he had liked it since the moment it came out. It had a certain feel to it that made him happy and anxious to get his vocals working. Jinho’s arraignment was amazing, like everything he always did, and Hyunggu read the lyrics on his mind to fit them with the music, ones, twice, thrice. Once he had it memorized, he took the earphones out and turned around. The oldest was sitting next to Wooseok, correcting his fingers and marking the tempo with his foot to guide him through the strumming pattern.

He stared at Jinho first, thinking about all the things he had gone through; shouldn’t he ask him what to do with this situation? But, at the same time, he knew he couldn’t exactly because of that. He had enough problems of his own to go invade him with more. Hyunggu felt entirely lost, not knowing with whom he should speak. He moved his eyes to the right, were his best friend was. He had always been his first option for everything, but it was his last one this time. He couldn’t speak with Wooseok; neither could he ask any of his friends for help. Maybe he should go to Hwitaek, the guys usually said he had close to none feelings whatsoever. He sighed, decided to put the problem on the back of his brain again. Maybe he should pick ‘Issues’ as next week’s song.

“That was fast Hyunggu,” Jinho said, breaking his trance. “Not to mention quiet. I could almost swear I didn’t hear a word leaving you lips.”

“Busted,” Wooseok laughed, covering his mouths not to make it too obvious. Hyunggu killed him with his stare and got back to sing the song.

The first few times, he sang it all, no matter which ones were his parts (it wasn’t a big deal anyway, Jinho always gave him the biggest amount of them, given the fact he was the main vocalist). The song felt comfortable for his range and it didn’t surprise him, they always ended up fitting all of them; Jinho’s magic. After he memorized the melody and when to and not to go too up, he changed to only trying his lines. Jinho had decided they all shared the first half of the pre-chorus, while Jinho and Wooseok covered the weird chorus part with some of Hyunggu’s harmonies, his specialty. He tried to handle the chorus, but doing it by himself was bringing him some problems.

“Jinho, I know you think I’m a good singer—”

“I **know** you’re an **incredible** singer.”

“Okay, okay, that,” he walked to them, pulling a chair in front of the duo. “But I can’t harmonize by myself, that’s not how it works.”

Jinho punched him on the shoulder to get that cheesy tone off him. “I know, you dumbass.”

The three of them broke into laugher and Hyunggu decided to relax. Music was his escape from reality, and the music club had always been the physical place he went to whenever he wanted to clean his mind completely. Even if things were a little rough right now, he knew his friend would always be there for him; that’s what true friendship means.

“Now, let’s go, practice is waiting for us to stop fucking around.”

So they did. Wooseok was still struggling with the strumming and picking, that wasn’t easy, so Jinho took the lead on the guitar, letting the percussion for later. It took them a few goes to get the tone, parts and arrangements correct. Of course, they weren’t going to do it perfectly on the first day, but the fact that all of them had heard the song a trillion times before really help. By the tenth go, the harmonies were starting to take an actual form, sounding least forced and more natural.

Hyunggu wanted to pat each of them on the back. He still remembered how bad things went the entire first year, making him almost quit. But he had grown as a person, learning to assess other’s opinions and to communicate with Jinho on the best way possible. Wooseok had lost his shame, gaining confidence on his amazing voice and range, letting Jinho help him. The later had softened, learning to listen, to speak calmly, to stop screaming. Their club could be the smallest on the school, but Hyunggu was sure they were one of the ones with more progress since he had entered high school. The best thing with being few people was the close contact, how they’ve understood that they could **only** do this together, by talking, by arguing rationally, by trusting.

‘Make Me’ started ringing, making them all jump. Jinho hated when the phone interrupted their sessions, it made them lose their focus and perfect out-of-this-world status to sing, but this time it was his that broke their concentration. A bit red, he pulled it out of his pocket. It wasn’t a call, as he just swiped a bottom and stood up.

“I never needed you like I do right now?” Wooseok asked, as serious as if he was giving an exam.

Hyunggu looked at him, getting the idea and, while trying not to laugh, he added. “I never hated you like I do right now?”

“Cause all you ever do is make me,” Wooseok finished, starting to stand up, ready to start running.

Jinho had thrown his phone back to his pocket and was now staring at the floor. Hyunggu stud up as well, putting a foot behind the chair, giving himself an advantage. If they’ll have to run, he would leave Wooseok behind; he loved his best friend but he feared Jinho more. The shorter boy looked up, death serious and spoke.

“Gave you up 'bout twenty one times,” he stopped for a second. “Felt those lips tell me twenty one lies,” and without another word, he left the room with two completely broken friends, laughing so far, Yanan could probably hear them from the airport.

Yan An. He couldn’t believe they’re going to meet again. Jinho barely remembered him as a child, thanks to social media. He did remember that his friend has always being tall but cute, smiling shyly to everyone and secretly caring for people that didn’t even know he was there. At first, Jinho hadn’t hanged out with him a lot but after a few weeks, they had become close. They had each other’s phone number, facebook, even though no one uses that anymore, twitter, instagram and any other social media you could think of. Yanan had grown a lot and, through the screen, Jinho could still see how tall he actually was, probably as tall as Shinwon. His hair was still back and his bangs sometimes looked way too long. Through time, the Chinese boy hadn’t changed a bit of his personality but, to be fair, neither had Jinho.

He jumped into his car and pulled of the school’s street. He had gotten his license and car at 16, as their parent needed him to take his little sisters to school or outings with their friends when they couldn’t. They owned two cars and his was a white Ford K, obviously not the 2015 model. It didn’t draw too much attention to itself, which was good, as schools didn’t have a parking lot. **That** was the biggest issue: almost all of the fifth and sixth year students had cars but no space to park them.

The city’s traffic was a disaster, like always, but as soon as he got to the freeway, it seemed as he was the only one there. That was the part about driving he liked the most: long trips, calm freeways and having the chance to choose the music. He had been obsessed with Bastille lately, listening to ‘Bad Blood’ again and again; the whole album was just incredible. When ‘Oblivion’ started, he was already on the airport’s entrance. He pulled his ticket out of the machine, praying for Yanan to arrive at time; that shit was expensive.

It’s been a while since the last time he had been on the airport. His family didn’t travel very often and he’d only needed to go to the county’s capital like two times before and he’ll take the bus for that, there were only 700km and an 8 hour trip, there was no way he’ll spent double just to get there on an hour. The city had two airports in one, a combo. They had made the new one, which was the house of international flights, in front of the old one, now just for the national ones, a few years ago. He had been on the new one three times, to go pick up his cousin, but he’ll never get used to how beautiful it was. Fully white and incredibly clean, Jinho loved it. Maybe it wasn’t the world’s most amazing airport, but it was for him. It had no comparison with Pekin’s airport but, again, which airport did? It had shocked him a lot, but he preferred tiny things, huge places made him feel even smaller.

Yan An had, hopefully, arrived 17 minutes ago. He moved to the closest screen to check and the flight had only had a 4 minute delay, so his friend would have another 20 to get there. The airport’s customs was fast and, giving the fact that he was actually **moving** , the amount of luggage wouldn’t stand out that much. He took a sit on one of the few empty chairs, pulling out his phone.

 

He smiled at Hongseok’s text. If someone had told him, 5 years ago, that he’ll end up dating the most popular boy in school, he’d have laughed at their face. It’s not that he didn’t believe he was good enough for that type; it was more of the fact that he didn’t like them at all. He had always been the ‘chill’ type, not drowning too much attention to himself, which wasn’t the case anymore, but that’s not important. Jinho had always thought he will live a peaceful high school life, not focusing on anything more than studies, music and the few friends he has, which wasn’t the case anymore.

He rested his face on his palms for a second, one of them was cold because of the aluminum of the phone, and stared at the door. What will Yan An think of him now? Will he be happy, proud, disappoint, all of them? They had met too many years before all this mess started, when Jinho was still a quiet and bossy child (he was still bossy but that’s beyond the point). Yan An knew about Hongseok, kind of, so it’s not like Jinho hadn’t told him, he just... hadn’t told him the **whole** story.

He turned his phone around. 17.22. Standing up and putting the cell back on his pocket, he approached the door. A few people were already there. A man with a girl, that couldn’t be older than 3 years old, were right behind the half glass wall. He had her hold by her tiny hand while her other one, and her face, were pressed against the wall. She looked incredibly exited and the view made Jinho smile wildly. He like kids, they were cute and the only human beings smaller than him, apparently.

People started crossing the door and he focused on it again. Yanan had sent him 3 snaps and texted 2 pictures, so Jinho knew he was wearing a black and white turtle neck with a light blue hoodie. A woman crossed while he was thinking and a family, which was previously standing next to him, went to hug her.  That was a thought that usually hunted his mind: how on Earth was he going to tell his mum that he wouldn’t be able to have a child like she did? Of course, he knew he could adopt, but she had always said how she wanted him to raise a family like she had, to experience how beautiful it is to have your own child. He honestly thought that one you adopted, that was **your** child, no matter what other people think, but he had a knew his mother didn’t share his beliefs. And talking about it, the little girl that was previously standing next to him ran towards a man with a small suitcase that had crossed the door. He picked her up, smiling wildly. The other man also went to him, placing a kiss on his forehead and caressing his cheek. Not many people had turned around to stare at them and Jinho’s heart warmed, society was evolving. He also looked away, giving them privacy. Would that be him on a few years? Maybe him and Hongseok? He liked to think so.

A very tall body crossed the door and Jinho practically run to the side of the wall. Yanan was moving his eyes around like crazy, probably looking for him. He was carrying a cart with two huge suitcases on it and a black backpack that must be killing his spine. When their eyes met, the taller boy smiled showing his teeth, incredibly happy. Jinho move closer to him, surrounding the pile of luggage and giving his friend an enormous hug. He smelled nicely even though he had spent the last 2 days in and out of planes and airports, just Yan An.

“Hi!!” he said when the broke apart. “You are so much taller than on the pictures!”

Jinho smiled at that while shaking his head. “Thanks, so are you. You’ve grown so much, oh god, a giant.”

They both laughed and Jinho extended a hand to ask for Yan An’s bag. He’ll have probably said no if his back wasn’t breaking, so he handed it to the shorter male. Jinho guided him though the airport, just one floor down. He was extremely thankful it was a small place, he was sick of walking half an hour to get to the exit.

“So, how was your flight?”

“Way too long. Who knew someone could travel for that long? I’m never going back to China!”

“True, I was young so I don’t remember it all, but I do remember how flat my ass was after that,” he touched him butt cheek, making Yan An laugh.

They reached the car and they both probably asked themselves the same question. _How the hell are we going to fit all of this here?_  

“Emmm, I think we should—” Yan An started, but Jinho cut him off raising a hand, already pressing his phone against his right ear.

“Hi, yep, I’m fine, listen, I need a favor,” he stopped for a second, tilting his head and sticking the end of his tongue in between his teeth. “Come on, you’re the captain, you can do whatever the hell you want,” he stopped again, rolling his eyes. “Don’t be idiotic. Okay, sheesh,” Yan An fixed him with a funny expression. “You’re hotter than Hongseok, now, come on. Yes, yes, whatever.”

He hanged up the phone, looking defeated and pressing his temple with his thumb and middle finger. Yan An found the situation extremely funny but he knew that no matter how much Jinho loved him, he’ll kick him if he laughed. He sat on the driver’s seat, not closing the door. They talked about Jinho’s school and Yan An automatically told him he was joining his music club. Jinho frowned for a second, to later press his lips together and nod. Yan An wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like Jinho didn’t want him to do **too** much with him, but that was stupid so he discarded that thought, they had been friends all this years and they hadn’t even seen each other. Knowing Jinho, he was as excited as he was.

After a few more minutes, a gorgeous blue Volkswagen Touareg parked in front of them, blocking their way out. Yan An looked at Jinho, expecting for him for yell something in the lines of ‘you stupid dickhead, move’, but the older boy just sighed and walked a few steps. The car’s door opened and closed, not revealing to Yan An who the driver was. When the mysterious man moved to open the truck, he lost his ability to breathe for a few seconds. He wasn’t as tall as Yan An was, but that didn’t matter. His hair was up and completely black; his eyes, even though he could barely see them, had a mischievous spark to them. He was wearing ripped light blue jeans and a sweater, not **too** long but longer than what it should have been, with three stripes, the white one was the smallest and at top, while the grey one was bigger and at the bottom. He was one of the most gorgeous men Yan An had seen on his entire life, and he didn’t described people as gorgeous very often.

“Bip, bit, your cab is here,” the boy said, resting his whole weight on the car and winking at Jinho’s direction.

“Hi Hwitaek,” Jinho said while moving the suitcase to the dude’s, Hwitaek was his name apparently, car.

“Where are my thanks Ji?”

Yan An was scared that the boy will leave the place with a black eye, but Jinho just moved a little bit closer and pressed his index finger on Hwitaek’s forehead, not applying too much force. “Thanks.”

The later smiled, nodding, and turning to look at Yan An for the first time. “Hello there, Chinese folk, I’m Hwitaek,” he extended a hand and he shook it, noticing a bit of ink escaping from under the sleeve, of course, a tattoo. He turned to Jinho again. “Now I know why you warned Changgu on this one.”

Jinho shrugged with a pleased look on his face. “You know I’m always right.”

Hwitaek rolled his eyes. “Now, wanna get into the car? I don’t wanna pay like two hours.”

“You rich rat,” Jinho murmured, getting closer to Yan An. “Go with him, I know you want to, so did I the first time I saw his car, we’ll meet at my place.”

Yanan nodded. “I don’t know how to get there,” those were the first words since the black haired had arrived.

“Hwitaek knows,” he simply said.

“Is he your friend?” Yan An was surprised and he hoped his question didn’t sound rude.

“Yep,” was Jinho’s only answer before turning around and boarding his car.

Yan An did the same with the amazing car behind him; he couldn’t believe this situation was actually happening. The sit felt like feathers and the heating wasn’t too much, so he didn’t feel the hit of the heat.

“Welcome,” Hwitaek said, smiling and starting the engine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, what are your thoughts? i'll be more than happy if you share them with me.  
> also, idk if anybody will ask about this, but i'll still be working on my other fic.  
> if you want, follow me on [ twitter](https://twitter.com/stxrryjin/) or in my [tumblr](http://stxrryjin.tumblr.com/) bye bye.


	2. Two

Yan An was moving his eyes all around the car, trying to absorb everything and making the driver laugh. Hwitaek was actually impressed by how beautiful the other was, not Hongseok-beautiful but Hyunggu-beautiful, with soft skin, pale as snow, round and big eyes that seemed to shine every time he blinked and a big mouth that probably smiled a lot, he didn’t know. His face had a childish tint to it but not entirely, looking both young and his age at the same time.

“So, Chinese boy,” he started while checking the mirrors to turn towards Jinho’s neighborhood. “Why did you decide to move now? I mean, it’s not the most normal time to do so.”

Playing with his fingers, Yan An stared down and thought what to say. He was shy, cute. “I got the idea last year but I couldn’t move so out of nowhere so my mum talked with Jinho’s and started to plan everything but she said we better waited until my dad got a promotion so now that he did, I’m here,” he shrugged, cutting his small voice off. Hwitaek wasn’t used to people who spoke on such low volume but he’d get used to it, just like he got used to a small school with no parking lots and crappy food.

“Our school is not fancy or shit, but it’s okay, I’m sure you’re going to like it,” he looked behind him, trying to see if the road was clear to turn once again and caught Yan An’s little nod. Fuck, he could go for it but Jinho would kill him and he had a rule: not with friends you want to keep. He had enough problems as things were anyway.

Jinho’s place was halfway through a pretty calm street with houses that weren’t small or big, just normal two stores houses. The air breathable there irradiated calmness, filled with a domestic mod, lots of families, kids that played outside and dog-walking. Only two blocks from there, a park where they spent nice spring afternoons and weekends was joined by more of these houses, including Shinwon’s. This was, of course, nothing like Hwitaek’s place, with huge houses, not smaller than half a block, kinds that never left their game rooms and people never walked their $50000 dogs. If he had to choose, he’ll stay with this scenery but his money, he liked having money.

He parked directly in front of Jinho’s car, giving Yan An a peace sign and a bright smile. With just pressing a button, the truck opened and the latter jumped off, letting him check the back sit to control they weren’t forgetting anything. He stayed on the driver’s seat for a few seconds, eying the smaller man towards the mirror; he had told himself for such a long time that he **hated** Jinho and not even once believed it, maybe he had a kinda crappy personality but he was also cool and passionate, not even mentioning the fact he loved Hongseok like no one in the world did or will ever do. Sighing, he stepped out of the vehicle, closing it and helping with one of the heavy cases.

Even though it wasn’t the biggest nor the most comfortable to reach by everyone, Jinho’s was their headquarters, they hanged out in there almost every day, except for parties which usually were at Hyojong’s or Hwitaek’s. The living room was big enough for movie night and they all fitted on the dining room’s table, eve when the owner’s mum was over aka the nights with the best menu.

As normal, Shinwon was already there, lazing around on the couch. He was a fine dud and Hwitaek had flirted with him once or twice before they became friends. He was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie, looking casual yet great at the same time, something he had always been jealous of. When the tall total of limbs noticed them, he quickly stood up, smiling brightly as if he hadn’t just had an almost two hour volleyball practice. His hair was slightly wet, which explained why he didn’t smell like death.

“So, here he is, China’s prince, Yan An,” he grinned, extending a hand and ignoring Jinho’s eye rolling. “Nice to finally meet you, I’m Shinwon.”

Yanan shook his hand and the other smiled even wilder, he already liked this dude, he was shy but on a different way to Hyunggu, who hadn’t acted any close to shy around him on a long time already. This boy was more of a polite shy so, maybe with some time, he’ll open up to him as well.

“Nice to meet you too,” his voice was incredibly soft, accent totally there.

“Don’t harass him, Shinwon,” Jinho scolded him while dropping the huge case he was dragging at the end of the staircase. “When Seokkie and Yuto get here, they can take this up to your room.”

Yan An nodded, imitating his friend with the case he was holding and started looking around, studying his surroundings, and Shinwon decided to leave him at it, reclaiming his spot on the sofa. He spent so much time in here it was already like his second house so he simply reached for the remote and turned the SmarTV on, followed by Netflix. He felt weight on his laps and chuckled, starting to pass his fingers through the black locks and hearing a satisfied moan leave Hwitaek’s mouth.

“Having a good time?”

“Mm-hm,” was the only answer he got, making him shook his head and chuckled a bit more. If someone walked in right now, they’ll probably just ignore the scene and take a sit on the floor or somewhere else. It was so weird to think that, even more with who was resting on him but it had become not only reality but an ordinary and daily thing in just a few years. Looking down, he focused on the other’s every feature. His lips were completely perfect, both in shape and color, his eyes, now closed, were pretty small and cute, his nose big enough to fit with the rest of him and his ears filled with silver earrings and rings. Like this, he actually looked seventeen years old, modest and calm, which wasn’t usual. Shinwon grinned because, in this short time, he had learned Lee Hwitaek was so much more than what he let everyone see and, definitely, significantly far from just the one of the school’s beauties.

The door opened again, did they ever locked it, and more people arrived. Wooseok was barely visible underneath his beanie, Yuto was talking on the phone and Hyunggu was just there but it never took much for the older to notice he was around. Screaming a hello, they made their way to the living room, six eyes stopping on the two occupants. Ups, Shinwon stared back down but the other was already scolding him with a glare and didn’t take long to go back to sitting position. That was another thing he knew about him: the rumor Hwitaek had no feelings was pure bullshit.

Yan An and Jinho reappeared from the kitchen, where the latter must had been teaching the newcomer how to use the oven and microwave plus the safe word, they didn’t need another exploding incident, they really didn’t, and the only thing that was left was hoping this guy was brighter than Wooseok while making popcorn. The youngers started to introduce themselves and he glanced at the guy now next to him.

“I don’t know what to say, just talk to me,” a bit pathetic but realistic.

He sighed. “You haven’t solved it yet?”

“Does it look like I have?” he brought his lips together and gave him a fake smile.

“No and I’m getting tired, just tell him and end this conundrum.”

That would had been and amazing idea if it wasn’t so stupid. If there was anything that could make the situation worse, that was confronting it and talking about it. Not saying a word was working so far, even if he wasn’t happy with how things were at the moment. Yuto, oh angel from above, sat in front of him, covering every possible access to his persona, good one. Even though he was still annoyed, Hwitaek dropped his weight on him again, demanding for hair petting.

Complicated situations had never been something Shinwon like to be trapped in, like every normal person. If he had the chance, he’d avoid them like the plague, keeping himself on his little bubble of nice and calm life, enjoying every moment. However, you can't talk with your heart and pretend for it to stay away from said situations, that's **not** how feelings work. If he could, he'd shout at it, ask it to run as far from all this as it can, to stay hidden and safe on a place the other hearts involved can't find it. But that's not possible and he can't simply flee from his current state, no matter how hard he tries. Being deeply in love had never entered his list of 'situations not to get into', it was actually the complete opposite, entirely Jinho's fault. If there were two people in the world that made love look easy and dreamy, those were those two. They'd been together for such a long time it was something Shinwon couldn't imagine his life without. It wasn't that they were extremely touchy or very coupley but there was something in the way they stared at each other that made everyone aware of how actually in love they were. That had made Shinwon crave for love as well, hoping for someone that would look at him that way and even though it had taken him its time, he had found said person two years ago. He blew his mind every single day and just a smile could make his stomach go all funny. He knew, of course, that he was stared back at the same way, that the feelings were mutual.

The problem? Love isn't easy for everyone.

So here he was, sitting miserably in between the arm chair, Mr. Hot and a friend who found himself on an even worse love situation, eyes glued to the screen and ignoring the other four glued to him.

As the door opened for the third time, the conversion he wasn't paying any attention to died down. His eyes traveled from the door to Yan An's face, containing his laughter at the other's too obvious reaction. The Chinese's eyes were so large they seemed at the edge of exploding, his lips almost inside his mouth and his Adam's apple moved up and then quickly down again.

The holy trinity was in the house, Hwitaek was the fourth musketeer but he had been there for a while already. Hyojong was wearing jeans not long enough to cover his ankles, black converse, a white v neck and a beige cardigan, looking straight out of a Vogue photoshoot. Hongseok was just in a pair of grey sweatpants and a hoodie, more out of and Adidas commercial. Finally, Changgu, wow, that guy was danger for everyone, rocking the ripped jeans and leather jacket since day one, a Channel model by excellence. The red haired, however, wasn't expecting for the latter to be the center of the newcomer's undivided attention. Usually, people were drawn to Hongseok as a magnet. Nevertheless what shocked him the most was the way Changgu's eyes danced over the taller's body, filled with genuine appreciation, not a sign of lust of sexual desire.

"Now, the party is complete," Hongseok chuckled, god, that man was so fucking cute, how, **how**? They greeted Yan An, who simply nodded and shook hands, trying to dissemble his blush when Changgu caught him staring and lowkey hid behind Jinho, who wasn't the best option to be honest. The latter called for pizza and sat on the fool were another armchair should have been to give them more sitting space, his boyfriend sitting right next to him and intertwining their fingers, ugh, so nice. He unconsciously stared to his left, locking gazes with certain younger and felt how his heart tightened on his chest. If only they could be sitting together as well, holding hands and hugging. Sighing, he rested his head on his palm before stamping it against the sofa's back.

Jinho smiled at the warm body by his and studied the scene, it was so crazy, not just the fact Yan An was there but he usually found himself realizing that these people were his **friends** , that they wanted to be there, on his company when only almost four years ago everyone hated him. He knew, deep down, that the pain he had lived still haunted him but his life was now on place, with these jerks he could call friends and the biggest jerk he called boyfriend. He couldn't keep living on the past, that didn't help, even if he felt as if 80% of the school still despised him. They were all either chatting or watching the tv and everything finally looked in place, where it was supposed to be. Shinwon was only talking with Hwitaek, which was a bit weird, but he let it go, maybe he should ask later. Hyunggu, Wooseok and Changgu seemed engrossed on a pretty flamed discussion about why Fernet is **never** mixed with Pepsi while Yan An was talking with Yuto and Hyojong (thank god he was actually able of voicing words) about his 30 hour flight and all the time he wasted on airports, okay, maybe he didn't have to come to his rescue.

Jinho started to count from 50 backwards and when Hongseok stared weirdly at him, he simply pointed forward with his head, letting him know he should stare at their friends as well. When he reached 27, Hwitaek spoke loudly for all of them to hear.

"We should make Yan An the 20 questions initiation!"

Sighing, he exchanged a look with his boyfriend, who shook his head and smiled, telling him without speaking 'you know them so well'.

"The what?"

"When we all started to hang out, some sooner others later, we decided to use the 20 questions game to get to know each other," Hyunggu clarified. "Every time some new joins, we ask them, is tradition," he finished with a shrug.

"Oh," his eyes travelled to Jinho, his tone unsure.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Biting his lower lip, he simply looked around and nodded.

Hwitaek was delighted, asking to be the one starting. As they locked eyes, the shortest warned him with a glare not to surpass if he didn't want to get his ass kick to which he rolled his eyes.

"An easy one: do you like girls?"

Jinho moaned in annoyance but Yan An answers anyway, even though his face as red as hot sauce and his voice barely as whisper. "No."

The other nodded, one more to the club. To be honest, just few of them liked them and none of them exclusively. As far as he was aware, none was dating one right now but you never knew with the Fantastic Four, how they like to call them, except from Hongseok, of course. Hyojong had gone to a few date with a cute girl from his class last month but that was the last girl dating experience he was aware of. The thing: it was complicated. Hyunggu has once said a girl rejected him because he swung both ways' and the same had happened to Yuto with a guy like two years ago, people are shit sometimes.

"Let me go next," Wooseok said. "Mmm, do you do any sport?"

The attacked was visibly relaxed at the question and shook his head. "I'm not even close to being good at them so, no."

Jinho smiles, Wooseokkie was shit at sports, he could barely pass gym class.

"Me," Hongseok declared, surprising the other a little, he usually stayed silent. "What do you like to do on your free time?"

Normal question again, Yan An breathed in relief. "I sing a bit, read books and I'm okay at cooking."

A very him answer half of them could relate to. Changgu loved reading, Yuto was really good at cooking while Hyojong was okay and the music club members obviously enjoyed singing. It was nice to see the newcomer slowly getting off his shell.

"What's your favorite type of movie?" Changgu asked, surprising all of them but mostly the oldest. They were used to no-fuckboy Changgu but he usually never showed that side to him in front of strangers, which made him frown and feel a bit uneasy.

"Well, I like thrillers, the ones that glue your eyes to the screen until the end," he looked at the other's direction for barely a second and he gifted him a smile, revealing to Jinho why he didn't like all this.

"Okay, me," Hyojong was one of those people that asked incredibly personal question as if he was ordering breakfast and the shortest wished he had a pillow close by to throw at him. "Have you had sex?"

Yan An was obviously **not** comfortable with this one as his friend could feel the hotness of his skin all the way from where he was sat and, when their eyes locked, he used them to apologize. "Not exactly," his voice had gone small again and the room seemed so interested on his answers he was practically forced to elaborate. "Some things, not all the way."

Impressed that he was even able to formulate that sentence, Jinho send a glance to Shinwon asking him to take the lead and move back to PG13 territory to which the red haired simply nodded in agreement, an angel. They'd been friends for over ten years and the taller had stayed by his side since day one, even during first year when they went to different schools. By second he had already moved to Jinho's, entered the volleyball club and met Yuto. He had never pretended the shorter wasn't his friend to have it all easier, he almost showed him as his biggest pride.

"Yan An, do you like playing games? Like, for example, Yuto is the best at FIFA but none of these losers have ever won an UNO game against me."

Hwitaek, still on his lap, sent him a death glare but stayed silent, after all, he wasn't lying, the fucking bastard.

"I'm good at board games and poker but I suck at video games except for Mario Kart and Just Dance for some reason."

Hyunggu laughed and went with one of his really Hyunggu questions. "Who and how old were you for your first kiss?"

While his back tensed, he turned toward Jinho, who was trying his best not to explode into uncontrollable laughter, he knew this question was coming. The story behind it was pretty hilarious but when Yan An's eyes moved again from him to the body next to him, he understood his concern and answered instead. "With me when we were 10, 11, something like that," Wooseok had opened his eyes so big the oldest was actually scared they'll fall off. "I was already sure my mum wasn't getting any grandchildren from her own DNA but he wasn't so I just helped him," he shrugged, letting them know the topic ended there and none tried to ask anything else. He stared sideways but Hongseok simply squished his hand and smiled.

“What are you afraid of?” Yuto asked from his spot on the floor, trying to lighten the mood again.

“Spiders,” was the answer he got, which earned the newcomer quite a few nods.

“If you could describe yourself with only three words, which ones would you use?” Hongseok and his deep questions.

Resting a finger on his mouth, Yanan thought for a while and Jinho used the time to inspect his surroundings. Hwitaek was **still** on Shinwon’s lap and the scene looked **so** good, almost as if they were made for each other (which they obviously weren't, they worked great as friends but that was it). Jinho kinda shipped them, as idiotic as that sounded. There was no lie on saying Hwitaek was bit of a player but when they were together, it was almost as if the red haired’s presence calmed him, turning him back into a cheerful and relaxed seventeen years old. However, he also wished for the two of them to fall in love, maybe one more than the other. At first, when they weren't friends, it was just because he didn't want any problems on his relationship but then he realized it was because he wanted for him to be happy, sometimes has stolen from his fingers without even knowing but had no intention of giving away. Some other part of him knew he was missing something incredibly important on this equation but not sure **what** that was. He had never been good with people and less than less when it came to understanding how others felt, which was now a huge flaw given the fact he had nine friends he had to learn how to read. For some reason, he knew that what he wasn't getting was just in front of his nose but every time he intended to grab it, it ran away.

“Shy, kind and stubborn,” Hongseok nodded, thanking Yan An for his genuine answer.

“If you knew today was the last day of your life, how would you spend it?” nine pairs of eyes turned towards Hwitaek, now lying on his side to see better. Yuto stared at the window as if he was waiting for cows to start raining and Jinho couldn't blame him, that was such a not him thing to ask.

“I'll say go back to China to see my parents but as it took me 3 days to get here, probably eat chocolate until exploding?” that made them laugh.

“What are you weak for?” Wooseok shot out of nowhere.

“W-which way do you mean?”

“Both.”

“Dogs, Starbucks, nice candles,” he stopped and the shortest knew he didn't want to answer the other half of the question but when he tried to say he didn't have to, Hongseok squished his hand again to make him looks his direction and shook his head, stopping him. He said ‘let him fight his own battles’ without voicing a words, damn him and his intelligence. “Kisses on the inner thigh,” he looked down, trying to hide into himself but still caught both Hwitaek and Hyojong doing a check sign on the air that earned them a smack on the nape from Shinwon and Yuto. The Chinese laughed a bit, still fluttered, and it hit Jinho how big of an odd group of people they were and still able to make each other happy.

“Which FRIENDS’ character do you relate the most?” he asked, it was his favorite question. Yan An chuckled.

“I’m a strange mixture of Ross and Phoebe” he said and the oldest gave him huge smile.

Yuto went next with “What's your guilty pleasure?”

The other turned a bit pink. “Downton Abbey.”

“Oh my god, I like this kid,” Shinwon stated from the couch, moving a bit forward that came with a moan from Hwitaek. The red haired had watched the series five billion times and knew every single dialogue by heart. Even though they didn't admit it so openly, so did his best friends and probably the rest had seen it more than once too. Jinho had because, come one, it was good. The Chinese smiled softly at Shinwon’s direction and the latter smiled back, well, he liked this perspective more but still not entirely.

“Tea or coffee? asked Hyojong, Mr. Addicted. He could have up to 4 huge cups of coffee a day, they weren't even sure if he slept.

“Tea because I'm Chinese,” Yan An said with a serious expression that make them laugh. “No, really, I love tea but it have to be good, those that come in tiny bags are disgusting,” Changgu nodded aggressively, the dude carried cans of tea on his backpack.

“Oh,” Hyunggu smacked a hand against his forehead. “When's your birthday?”

“October 25th, I'm 16 now.”

“Wait, the most important question of them all: dogs or cats?”

With a mixture of confused and funny expression, Yan An answered to Shinwon. “I like both but if I have to choose, dogs. I don't like when people go around declaring they hate cats as if it was their best feature or something, cats are great.”

“I don't understand how people hate cats,” Hyunggu had three, the mother and two balls of hair.

“Do you smoke?”

“Nope, it's bad for my lungs and I need those as a singer.

Wooseok nodded, probably the answer he was waiting for. “And to live tbh.”

Jinho was guilty of that one because he had, indeed, smoked for a few months during 4° year, yeah, who the hell sells cigarettes to a 15 years old that looks 12? People didn't seem to care about it, they just wanted to make money. His mum had never figured out mostly because he didn't smoke at home but Changgu had. The latter did too, from time to time, and the shorter’s breath had been enough to tell him. The rest had never understood where his courage had come from but he had sat his friend down and practically scolded him for an hour, remarking how amazing his voice was and that none of them would let him ruin his chances of doing what he loved. You just didn't tell Jinho off, he'd have ripped your head off but maybe that was when he started changing and actually listened, simply stopping buying them, letting it all behind altogether.

“Are you a jealous person?”

“Em,” he considered it for a second and then looked back at Hyojong. “A bit. I don't like jealousy but from time to time I feel it, I mean, I'm a normal person. It's mostly towards my friends though,” it was incredible how fast Yan An had become comfortable with them and his friend would had been happy if they weren't so close to the last question.

“Same or different color socks?” Hongseok shot and his boyfriend cursed under his breath. It was an unwritten rule that only the four of them could make the 20th question and it **had** to be sex related. Right now, he hated said rule because Yan An wasn't going to be okay with it and the three musketeers weren't known for their subtlety.

“Different, it's more fun,” he was smiling and Shinwon looked down at the body on his lap, **forbidding** him for opening his mouth and, for some unknown reason, the black haired always listened to him. Hyojong and Changgu stared at each other and the first rose a brow at the younger’s pleading eyes. “Let's leave our prince go for the last one.”

While receiving a killing glare from Jinho, he passed a hand through his hair and looked at the newcomer. Since the moment he had seen him, Changgu knew there was something different about him, something that made him want to discover every layer he had. With an apologetic smile, he asked the least sexual but still sexual question he could think of. “What's your idea of good foreplay?” Okay, he could have gone for something even less sexual but, hey, that's who he was.

Yan An’s face went from milk white to apple red, he was obviously not used to talk about this stuff neither being the center of people's undivided attention. He said he hadn't exactly had sex but he had gone beyond kissing so this was a good one because he couldn't answer from experience.

“Well, em,” he pressed a hand on the back of his neck, something he did when he was nervous, he had noticed. “A blowjob maybe? Is that a boring answer? I don't know, I like that, I guess,” his words had come out as a storm, pressed against each other and so quickly they had been barely audible or comprehensible but they all had caught them. God knows why, Changgu spoke.

“It's not boring, it's actually a pretty normal, I mean, it's one of the things that bring the most pleasure to us,” he ended with a shrug, minimizing its importance and making it look as if he wasn't trying to make him feel better, which he definitely wasn't.

Hyojong was looking at him with a rose eyebrow again but with a different meaning behind it this time and so was Yuto, not even hiding a smirk, little piece of shit. Thankfully, the doorbell rang again and he was on his feet before anyone else, going for the pizza. What on Earth was wrong with him? His friends knew perfectly he wasn't what people thought he was but Yan An didn't, they had just met. People that just met him left with that image of him so why was he acting as his true self now? What made Yan An different? Paying for the food, he went back, left every box on the wooden coffee table and sat the closest he could to Hwitaek, maybe that way he'll calm the fuck down. That, however, meant he was now right next to Yuto, Mr. Smirk.

“Are you okay?” he was teasing but something on his voice let his friend know he was also serious which didn't help at calming him down at all. The relationship they shared was one of Changgu’s closest and most precious but the Japanese seemed able to read his mind while he only knew what he was told, the younger wasn't as easy to read. But hey, he at least knew more things than the rest of them so that was a bonus.

“Fine,” was the only word leaving his mouth. He bit into a slide and focused on the view in front of him, Jinho and Hongseok. One of Yan An’s answers had stuck with him because, well, he had spent the entirely of second year burning of jealousy over the small brown haired. He and Hongseok had been best friends since first year of primary school and he had spent more time with him that without him already. When they were in first year and what-happened-but-they-never-really-talked-about happened and their small groups kind of fell off for a bit, they only grew closer but when Jinhongseok had become an item, Changgu actually panicked, thinking he was going to lose the person he loved the most. Now that he looked back at it, he realized how stupid the whole thing had been. His best friend loved him like he always had and Jinho didn't think, not even for a second, that Hongseok was ‘his’, he even rarely called him his boyfriend, mostly referring at him as Seoky and never demanded for his time as if he was the owner of it, exactly how it should be. They all thought they were the best thing that could had happened to the other and him, Hwi and Jong had insisted on hanging out with him and getting to know him better, well, not exactly all of them.

While they were eating, Yan An said “Can I have a question too?”

They nodded and Changgu already knew what he was going to ask.

“So, who’s dating who?” ten points, he had been right.

“Nobody apart from this two,” Yuto pointed at the couple in front of him before swallowing a pepperoni, “but you knew that already. Also, Hongseok and Hyojong went out for like two month during first year but that's it.”

“You went out with Changgu, funny how you always forget to mention that one,” Hyojong had cheese all over his hand and the other two killed him, well, if stares could kill.

“We didn't,” the Japanese clarified and Changgu could feel certain tall man getting all tense even when he didn't have the right to. “We went to like, four and a half dates so, no, we didn't.”

“You kissed tho,” Hwitaek and his shitty decision to open his mouth on the worst moments. The tall amount of limbs tensed even more and Changgu felt like throwing his glass at him.

“You say that as if half of you haven't kissed him too,” well, it was true.

Nodding, Yan An went back to the food on his plate. With all the sexual tension on the room, it was obvious he hadn't believed them, even if it was technically true. He had constantly asked himself **why** the fuck his friends weren't together but he didn't need anyone else's answers because he knew it firsthand, kind of: it was complicated. The crush he had had for the past year had almost disappeared completely but liking someone that didn't like you back was not only difficult but also painful. Even if that wasn't the situation most of them were right now he had learned that even when it's mutual it can be just as painful. Love is shit and he hated it as much as he loved it.

The rest of the night went smoothly and Yan An didn't ask any more relationship related questions but he did wonder about school, the city, language and some other stuff. Changgu found himself staring at his face a lot while he talked. The newcomer was beautiful, a word he didn't use a lot to describe others. The combination of his every feature created a clean and a bit childish face, no, that wasn't the word. Yanan had the kind of face none of them really had: an innocent one. His smile was small and soft, almost as if he was ashamed they'll catch it, expressing a lot and nothing at the same time, which the older found particularly interesting. He was an open book on a language he didn't know but suddenly felt the urge to learn. When his eyes finally decided to move and stopped on a Jinho, he finally understood the warning glare he had gave him during lunch.

Laughing at something Hwitaek had said, Yuto focused on the body next to him, which hadn't really looked another direction since they started eating, a bad, very bad thing. After they tried to date they've become really close, the attraction they used to feel dying after a few kisses, even if he wish it hadn't because the situation he found himself into right now was way worse. Changgu had feelings, he knew that perfectly, which had led to him being depressed for almost a year thanks to being crushing on someone that liked someone else, a thing they had in common. However, his friend had almost got over it entirely while he, well, hadn't. As bad as this sounded, he wished his friend hadn't either because his eyes couldn't focus on anything else than certain boy that will not only make things **too** difficult but also Jinho suffer, something he had seen enough for the rest of his life. It's not like he didn't trust Changgu could actually fall in love but, what if he didn't? Yan An seemed like a nice and soft guy, loved a lot by the oldest because he was obviously a good person. People that dated his friend always had the hope he was going to stay with them but also knew it was the most probable he didn't, which didn't mean the breakup didn't hurt but it was a softer fall. The Chinese, however, didn't seem like the kind of guy that would go for something that was mostly destined to fail and, even if he did, with any of the options, someone would get hurt.

Sighing, he locked eyes with Hyunggu and offered a small smile. One way or another, they were on a similar position on all the mess that was taking place, loving someone silently and, although on different way or, how to put it, intensities, they were loved back. The problem? None could be with the person that owned their heart, yes cheesy, because everything was way too complicated, at least at the moment. If he had to be honest, he **hated** all of this but there was nothing he could do about it, life does what it wants and isn't open for requests.

When they all stood up to leave, Hwitaek offered him a ride (their houses were on the same direction) but a glance and a nod from Shinwon made him decline.

“Nah, I'm staying at Mr. Strawberry Head tonight, thanks though,” he said, which earned him two glares filled completely with envy, one way more obvious than the other.

Shinwon’s place was a block away so walking there at two in the morning wasn't really that dangerous. When they were a few steps away, the older stopped and Yuto turning back to check what was going on. He was starting at the floor and swallowed before looking back up.

“I’m sorry.”

The younger knew he was but this was the first time hearing him say so. Moving forward, he passed a hand over his friend's shoulders.

“You know it's not your fault,” it wasn't. They started walking once again, and Shinwon didn't speak again until they were almost at the door.

“I know, but I feel like it is.”

The younger sighed and shook his head because, sometimes, he also found it easier to blame his friend for something completely out of his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO INCREDIBLY SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO FUCKING LONG OMG I'M SO AWFUL GOD SHIT OKAY, i'm really so, so, so, so sorry.  
> i like this chapter a lOT okay, it was so fun writing it. also, special thanks to my baby ari for helping me with this, i need other ppl for the 20qg lol  
> anyway, if, for some reason, you're still reading this, i'll try and upload more regularly.  
> (pss, stan snuper)
> 
> bye


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